Lucy Ran
by JadeKomSkaikru
Summary: Secrets are spilled to the guild. Lucy ran. [GRAYxLUCY]


Lucy ran.

Usually she wasn't a fan of physical activity but this time her fight or flight instinct kicked in and she fled from the guild hall at top speed.

She was faster than she looked.

She had never been more embarrassed in her life and it was all because of a certain pink haired Dragon-slayer who just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

She knew no good would come from telling Natsu her secret, but he was her best friend and she needed to tell someone.

In hindsight, she should have waited for Levy to come back from her mission.

Panting, Lucy rounded a corner and found herself at the outskirts of town. Glancing back to make sure she hadn't been followed, she sped into the woods.

 _"Stupid Natsu. Stupid cat. Stupid me for telling stupid Natsu who told his stupid cat!"_ Lucy thought furiously as she ran.

She could feel her legs begin to burn and knew she would have to stop running soon. Hopefully she was far enough away to get an hour of peace and quiet before they found her. Well, before HE found her. She knew he'd be looking for her and she didn't want to be found by him. Not yet. She couldn't take his rejection yet.

Bursting into a clearing, Lucy collapsed to the ground and gasped for breath. She had a stitch in her side and her legs felt like jelly. Rolling onto her back, she decided to rest for just a little while. Unfortunately her mind drifted back to the events of the previous evening and that morning.

"Natsu, you have to promise me you won't tell anyone"

"You can trust me Luce, I won't blab" Natsu grinned at her "Besides, you know everything about my thing for Lisanna"

"True. Okay, well I do like someone and he is part of the guild" Lucy hesitated, suddenly feeling nervous. She had never said this out loud before.

"Aaaaaand?" Natsu prompted, leaning forward to hear her better

"And… well…" Lucy took a deep breath "ImkindasortofinlovewithGrayandhavebeenformonths"

Natsu blinked in confusion, trying to process the words Lucy had just blurted out. It took him a few seconds but he finally managed to sort out the sentence in his head and realisation hit him like a bag of bricks.

"Wait, what?!" His eyes were wide and his jaw slack "You're in love with the Ice Princess?"

"Don't call him that! And yes, I am. I love Gray. I know he doesn't feel the same and I've been swallowing my feelings for months now but I just had to tell someone." Lucy sighed sadly "The feelings don't seem to be going away. In fact they keep building."

"Aww Luce, how do you know he doesn't feel the same? Have you asked him?" Natsu slung his arm around her shoulder comfortingly "You'll never know if you don't ask"

"I can't ask him! I won't be able to handle being rejected by him. It was bad enough when Everlue rejected me as a maid and that was just for a mission! I didn't even like him!"

"But what if he loves you Luce? What if he's just as scared of rejection as you are?"

"Don't be ridiculous Natsu; if he liked me he would have tried something by now. I'm not stupid, he only sees me as a friend and I won't ruin our friendship over this" Lucy trailed off sadly

Natsu fell silent; choosing to quietly comfort his friend with his presence rather than his words.

"Happy, I need you to do me a favour" Natsu whispered to the Exceed as he flew along beside him.

Lucy and Plue were walking a little way ahead of them and they were all on their way to the guild for breakfast. The plan was to call for Wendy and Carla at Fairy Hills before meeting Erza and Gray at the guild.

"What is it Natsu?" The blue cat whispered back "And why are we whispering?"

"We're whispering because this is a secret" Natsu sighed heavily "I need you to talk to Gray for me"

"Why? What about?"

"You cannot tell Lucy I told you this but… she's in love with him. I need to know how he feels about her so I can help her to decide whether she should tell him or not"

"She loooooves him!" Happy whisper-squealed

"Can you find out? But don't make it obvious, okay?"

"Aye sir!"

"Great! Thanks Happy!"

The group entered the guild hall. The usual people were about that morning. Mira was behind the bar, Cana was finishing her first keg of the day and Nab was standing by the job board looking thoughtful. Lucy scanned the room and found the spiky-haired object of her desire sitting with Erza in the middle of the guild. A little more scanning revealed a certain blue-haired water mage staring neurotically at Gray from a table in the corner. Lucy chuckled lightly and shook her head.

 _"I hope if I ever get that bad, someone snaps me out of it!"_ She thought amusedly

Natsu started moving towards the pair and Lucy followed, carrying Plue in her arms. Once she sat down, she gave the little dog spirit one final squeeze before dismissing him. He disappeared with a wave as his gate closed.

Ordering her usual breakfast, she didn't suspect anything was amiss. She also didn't see the little blue Exceed approaching the Ice Make Mage at the other end of the table.

"Gray, do you looooooove Lucy?" Happy asked bluntly

Gray, who had been halfway through his breakfast, promptly started choking on the bacon he had just put in his mouth. Without looking up, Erza smacked him hard on the back and the bacon dislodged, allowing the Ice mage to breathe again.

"Why would you ask me that, you stupid cat?" He wheezed, sipping some water that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He heard a girlish sigh from somewhere behind him and rolled his eyes. At least this time, Juvia was actually being helpful rather than plain creepy.

"Well because-" Happy said something but Gray couldn't hear him properly as Gajeel kicked open the door and stomped across the guild hall.

"What did you say Happy? A metal-faced idiot made too much noise and I couldn't hear you"

Gajeel grunted but Gray knew he probably wouldn't make a fuss until after he'd had his breakfast.

"I said-" Happy repeated himself but Jet and Droy started bickering over who protected Levy better.

Gray shook his head confusedly, still unable to hear.

"I SAID" Happy shouted "BECAUSE LUCY LOVES YOU!"

As he said the last part, the guild fell silent.

Lucy's heart stopped.

 _"Did…did that cat just say what I think he did?!"_ Her heart in her throat, she risked a glance up _"Yeah, everyone is staring at me and Juvia looks like she wants to kill me so that cat definitely said what I think he did…"_

Panic took over and Lucy stood abruptly, knocking over her chair in the process. Without hesitation she ran. As she reached the doors of the guild hall, she heard her name being called from behind her but there was no way in hell she was stopping.

As Lucy recounted the events in her head, tears began to form in her eyes. That stupid cat just shouted her secret for the entire guild to hear. But she didn't really care about them. She cared about him. As she stood, she had risked a glimpse of his face and he had looked genuinely confused. She didn't want to stick around long enough for him to shake away his shock. She knew their friendship would never be the same again.

Gray was in shock.

He hadn't suspected that Lucy felt anything for him other than friendship. He had loved her hopelessly since Galuna Island and never made a move for fear of scaring her away.

Lucy loved him too.

He would have doubted the cat but Lucy's reaction cemented it for him. Instead of laughing and brushing it off the way she would have if it wasn't true, she bolted in terror. He shouted her name but she didn't stop. So now he was running.

He was running after the woman he loved and when he finally caught her, he was going to make his feelings clear.

He didn't hear the whispers as he exited the guild. He didn't register Juvia's sorrowful wail as she realised that she had 'lost her Gray-sama to Love Rival'. All he could think about was the beautiful blonde that he needed to find.

Lucy had pulled herself into a sitting position. She hugged her knees to her chest as she tried to subdue the floods of tears. She could feel her heart constricting painfully in her chest. Could you die of a broken heart? Lucy thought she might. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm down and managed to climb to her feet.

Gray sped towards the forest, knowing instinctively that Lucy would be hiding in there. It's exactly what he would do in her position.

Lucy could hear footsteps heading towards her clearing. Listening closely, she knew the rhythm of those footsteps. It was him. As silently as she could, she turned to leave the clearing but as she made it to the other side she found her path blocked by a wall of newly made ice. Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she dropped her head, feeling tears begin to form again.

Gray reached out his hand and grabbed her arm, turning her slowly to face him. Wordlessly, he moved his hand under her chin and tipped her face up to look at him. It pained him to see tears in her beautiful brown eyes. Knowing that words wouldn't be enough to convince her this time, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, pouring every feeling of love that he had for her into this one kiss.

Lucy's breath hitched as she felt his lips press against her own. At first she was too surprised to react but after a moment she melted into the kiss. She pressed her body against his and wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms went around her waist and crushed her slight form against his muscular body.

After a few minutes, they both needed to break for air and Lucy gazed up into Gray's eyes.

"So does this mean-" Lucy started

"I love you Lucy Heartfilia. Always have, probably always will." Gray interrupted

The couple embraced again and in the privacy of that clearing, Lucy had never felt happier or more complete. Both knew that this wasn't the end of a friendship, but the start of something infinitely more powerful.

In a nearby tree, a pink haired Dragon-slayer and a blue Exceed grinned at each other silently and high fived.

The End.


End file.
